BJJ Academies in Japan.

Japan's relationship with BJJ runs deeper than most realize. Mitsuyo Maeda — born in Aomori, a Kodokan judoka — brought judo / jiu-jitsu to Brazil in 1914; in 1917, the 14-year-old Carlos Gracie watched Maeda demonstrate at the Da Paz Theatre in Belém and began training under him, the lineage that became Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. A century later, Yuki Nakai — the first Japanese BJJ black belt, awarded by Carlos Gracie Jr. (Maeda → Carlos Sr. → Carlos Jr. → Nakai lineage) — opened Paraestra in 1997.

The federation is the JBJJF — Japan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation — founded 1997 and registered as a general incorporated association in March 2009; it's an official IBJJF subordinate organization. The IBJJF Asian Open has been held annually in Tokyo since 2013, recently at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Shibuya. ASJJF runs additional Tokyo Opens, with the 2025 Winter edition at Sumida City Gymnasium. Quintet — the 5-on-5 submission grappling promotion founded by Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett — debuted in April 2018 on UFC Fight Pass.

The academy map clusters in Tokyo. Carpe Diem Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, founded by Yuki Ishikawa in 2013, runs its Aoyama HQ in Minato-ku and branches across Japan. AXIS Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Setagaya is the official Japanese representative of the Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Association, run by Takamasa Watanabe (the only Rickson Gracie black belt in Asia). Tribe Tokyo MMA, founded by Ryo Chonan, sits near Nerima Station and is a regular training home for Shinya Aoki. In Shizuoka, Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu was co-founded by the Souza brothers — Roberto "Satoshi" Souza is RIZIN FF's first lightweight champion (June 2021).